Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

2nd Case Study: Muhammad - The Messenger of God and the Seal of Prophets and Messengers

1st Research Topic - Logical Reasoning and Inevitability of the Termination of Prophethood and Divine Revelations

Proposed Questions:

Why is it necessary that there be closure to prophethood and the divine revelations?

Why is it essential that there exist a Seal of Prophets who would be the Last of Messengers?

What is the rationale and justification behind that?

Does that follow logical reasoning or not?

Logical Reasoning:

1) If we take a look at the things around us, whether living or dead, large or small, we will always find that everything has a limited lifespan and an end to it, after which it ceases to exist. This natural phenomenon is typically the course of life in the universe. Even the great celestial bodies have a specified age and they eventually die. So, everything in existence must have an end and this reality is inevitable and logical based on what we observe around us. After all, we never saw anything in this life that did not have an end to it for us to believe otherwise. Rather, everything has a beginning and eventually reaches an end. Beginning and end are natural phenomena which are a logical part of the universe and existence.

Prophethood and divine revelations represented by prophets and messengers had a beginning, so it also has to have an ending since it is part of life and existence. So, termination of prophethood and divine revelations is logical and essential to happen as that is the natural course of life. The mind can expect and deduce the essentiality of its occurrence even if it did not happen yet. So if it actually happened, then there is no surprise or peculiarity in this matter since surprise and peculiarity are only present in things that are illogical and contradicts sound judgment. As for the logistics, mentalities, and expectations, there is no peculiarity and no need for further proof or evidence.

2) As we mentioned in the 1st case study, the divine rules and laws of everything are regulated such that they are steady and constant. Even if they changed for a period of time, that change is for the purpose of reaching a steady state that is stable. For example, in the radioactive elements such as Uranium, they keep emitting rays and particles from its atoms until it eventually reaches a stable form. Radiation eventually stops and the atoms of Uranium change into another element. So the rule of this life and its existence is always stability and continuance, even if a transient change takes place. This is what we observe always and the scientists acknowledge this natural phenomenon in all branches of science. It is a trend seen in the universe and the life, and so it is observed, expected, and logical.

Likewise, prophethood and divine revelations are in essence divine rules and laws sent to humanity to organize their lives in this world. That is because human beings are the only creatures who are given the freedom to choose the laws and rules that will govern their lives and their interaction with the other creatures. God did not enforce these laws on the people as He did with other creatures. Hence, the Divine Creator willed to advice mankind and provide guidance towards the correct set of laws via prophets, messengers, and divine revelations so that the people can make their own choice and act accordingly.

Since prophethood and divine revelations are in essence divine laws and regulations, the same logic applies here, namely stability and continuity. The divine messages have differed slightly in some aspects due to difference in time, place, people, and the nature of their community and society, etc. These changes between the messages were necessary in order to keep pace with the rapid developments and advanced changes in human life, whether positive or negative. However, these changes were only present on the “branches” of the religion, and not the fundamentals.

Despite these changes, based on the logic we demonstrated earlier, it was inevitable that these divine revelations and laws would eventually reach a “steady state”, as most laws of the universe. It was essential that change would transition into stability that would be compatible with all that comes afterwards. It was necessary that there would finally exist a set of stable laws and regulations that would be cumulative, universal, and directed to all types of people with different color, nations, language, and societies. In order for that to logically happen, there must be a concluding and final message that would take a final form and would accommodate all of humanity. Hence, the sealing of prophethood and divine revelations is logical and essential so that the divine laws take its final form, not to be changed or revised afterwards.

3) We have demonstrated in the last research topic of the first case study that all of the prophets and messengers must be truthful in their prophecy and conveyance of divine revelation on behalf of their Lord. With that in mind, many of the prophets and messengers foretold the prophecy of the termination of the Messages of God. They also informed and conveyed from their Lord that there will appear a seal of prophets who will be the final and last messenger and will deliver a cumulative, universal, and final message from God to all of humanity in every time and place. So, if the messengers are truthful in their prophecies and sayings, it would be logical for us to await this last prophet and to expect closure of prophethood with a final Message that would mark the end of all the divine revelations and messages! If that does indeed happen, then there is no surprise because it is logical and expected based on the reasoning we demonstrated. After all, everything built on logic and reasoning is also logical and reasonable.

4) Despite the differences in the human society, its organizations, languages, culture, and civilizations, in the end the human race is considered to be one because it has a lot in common which brings it together. This is very obvious especially in the modern time as there are many recent developments like the means of transportation and communication which connect people everywhere. In addition, there is the appearance of international organizations such as the United Nations, the international sport competitions like Mundial, international military forces, international companies, and international tribunals. So, man then is pushed by his ties with his fellow humans towards unity and globalization. He tries to find common grounds which can accommodate all humans and find orders that may be applied in all countries and nations. This is what they call the new world order. This is the nature of humanity and the nature of the laws which God established that drive us always towards unification, globalization and integration with each other. This is what we observe in the present but it was not known before.

The different prophecies and divine revelations came to various groups of people and different societies which had little or no communication with each other. This led to the need for many prophets to appear over the different ages and places on Earth in order to serve the different societies that exist and the revelations that will differ only in its branches. Due to the fact that the human society is ultimately one as we explained, and is proceeding slowly towards unity and networking, so it was essential that these divine revelations also proceed towards oneness, unity, and universality. Namely - termination with one, final, and cumulative message that includes everyone and is directed to all of humanity, regardless of race, color, language, or culture, or civilization. A final message that is able to communicate with the human society and set its laws and guide it, so long as we use our mind that Allah (Glory be to Him) blessed us with over the other creatures and living things.

Since it is logical that these divine revelations would eventually head towards unity and crystallize into one last message, it is also logical that there exists a final message that accomplishes this goal. We could expect the appearance of a last messenger and seal of prophets who would deliver this final divine revelation to everyone. So, if this really did happen, it is no surprise because it is in agreement with common sense and sound judgment.

From the previous items 1-4 after thorough study and contemplation, and after using our bare minds and logical reasoning, we can with all confidence and faith conclude the following truth without any doubt:

1st Conclusion

Logic and sound reasoning necessitates that there should be termination, conclusion, and closure to the divine messages and revelations. Therefore, it is logical that there also appear a last messenger who would be the seal of prophets and would deliver the cumulative, final, and universal message directed to all of humanity in every time and place. We can expect this to happen even if it did not take place yet. And if it already did happen, then there is no surprise since it is in agreement with logical reasoning and is essential to happen, using common sense and sound judgment.

2nd Research Topic - Logical Reasoning and Essentiality Behind the Trustworthiness of the Prophecy of Muhammad as the Seal of Messengers Who Delivers the Final and Universal Divine Revelation to all of Humanity

Proposed Questions:

What are the logical proofs of the truthfulness of the prophecy and message of Muhammad?

Why is Muhammad son of Abdullah the Seal of Prophets and Messengers?

Is he the conveyer of the final expected message? Is this logical and what are the proofs to support that?

Is this Final Message really directed to all of humanity and is it cumulative and universal in its nature?

Logical Reasoning:

1) We had previously discussed in the 6th research topic of the first case study, the logical evidence and sound reasoning that proves the truthfulness of all the prophets and messengers, and the essentiality of their trustworthiness. And Muhammad is one of these prophets and messengers, so therefore, the proofs we presented earlier also applies to him and indicates the validity and authenticity of his prophecy. As matter of fact, we could assure that the truthfulness of Muhammad’s prophecy is part of the truthfulness of all the other prophets and messengers, as we proved earlier. We had previously demonstrated that the prophets and messengers are all one, without division. It’s either we believe in all of the prophets or we disbelieve in all of them as there is no middle position. So there is no need to provide extra evidence to support the prophecy of Muhammad since we already established the validity of prophethood and truthfulness of the prophets and messengers as a whole.

At this point, we advise the contemplative reader to review the 6th research topic in the first case study, specifically items 7, 10, and 12-20. After you review them, you will realize that all these points prove and verify the prophethood of Muhammad as well as the other prophets and messengers. They apply to him just like they apply to those preceding them.

2) History has narrated quite a bit and the contemporaries have witnessed many things which verify the prophethood of Muhammad and testify to the logic and necessity of his truthfulness. Before the commencement of his prophethood, the life of Muhammad in his society was a quiet, peaceful, and dignified life in which he became known among his people and among the tribes for his trustworthiness, honesty, truthfulness, nobility, wisdom, and intelligence. No one ever witnessed him lying, or exhibiting foolish or abnormal behavior, or showing symptoms of insanity or personality disorders. No one ever accused him or described him of any of that.

On the contrary, he was the focal point of respect and admiration by everyone. He grew up as an orphan who was deprived of the kindness and affection of his parents. He was poor and was raised by his uncle (Abu Talib) who had many children of his own and was in financial stress. Ever since Muhammad was young child, he learned that he has to earn his living by himself. So he went out to work at a very young age and got trained in many different tough jobs and tasks. He tasted the harshness of earning a living. Despite all the tough circumstances he faced while growing up, no one ever witnessed him lying or making a fool of himself, or betrayal, or dishonesty, or corruption, and that earned him respect and admiration.

So, how can a person known for having such noble traits and good behavior suddenly commit clear perjury on behalf of the Divine Creator and falsely claim prophethood?! This definitely contradicts logic and common sense! No one has ever witnessed him lying even in very simple and small matters, not even the attempt of lying. No one ever saw him exhibit signs or tendency of mental sickness, insanity, abnormal behavior, or psychological disorders during his life or any early signs of symptoms to these types of disorders. It is generally known and witnessed among people like lying, mental disorders, psychological disorders, behavioral disorders, and personality disorders usually don’t appear suddenly, and rather start out with minor symptoms and signs which develop and increase with age until it reaches its mature form (full stage). It is impossible and we never see such disorders and traits appearing suddenly and unexpectedly without prior signs, signs, or indication. So this in itself testifies to the truthfulness of Muhammad in his claim of prophethood.

History and many of the contemporaries of Muhammad have also witnessed a lot of the extraordinary events and miracles which confirm the validity of his prophethood and message. For example, there is the shading of the clouds on Muhammad even before his prophethood. A lot of the clerics and monks identified him from many of his characteristics which were mentioned in the early divine books long before his prophethood commenced. There are other miracles like the splitting of the moon, the event of Israa’ and Mi’raj (Surat Al Israa' in the Holy Quran), his discourse with the tree and the gazelle and the camel and their response to him, his cure of the sick and wounded, setting the dead alive, his prophecy of many of the unknown events whether in the present or future events, and the occurrence of these events exactly as he foretold (from what His Lord revealed to him).

Then, there is the divine book which God inspired to Muhammad directly and called it the Quran. It is a linguistic, moral, and intellectual miracle which all the scholars testified to its miraculousness. No one from the experts of the Arabic language ever came up with a similar or comparable book in terms of eloquence, content, or influence, etc. This is despite the fact that the Arabs were very capable and in control of their language, its format, its use and its art. Despite all that, no one since the time of Muhammad till now was able to imitate or reproduce any verse of the Holy Quran by any way or form. Although some attempted to do so because they were either disbeliever or have doubts or were stubborn, they failed and stood paralyzed in front of this challenge which is a miracle by any means or logic. It is a linguistic miracle with all the rules of logic and it stands as a proof to everyone who witnessed it or listened to it, even if they do not speak that language.

After all, if a whole nation acknowledged something to be a miracle, then it follows that it is also a miracle to the rest of the nations. These are just a few examples of miracles that accompanied Muhammad and there is much more that we did not mention (for the sake of brevity) which proves the truthfulness and integrity of Muhammad as well as the acknowledgement and support of God to him with such miracles which God had given to His prophets to acknowledge their truthfulness in front of their people.

People at every time and place generally have one of two reactions when they are confronted with a divine miracle. One group believes and follows it while the other group disbelieves and rejects it. This second group is usually stubborn and creates illogical and fake reasons for their disbelief. If some people doubt a miracle which took place in front of his eyes, that does not indicate a weakness or fault in the miracle itself. Rather, it indicates a deficiency in themselves either due to ignorance, lack of intelligence, self-interest, arrogance, or because of a stubborn mind. All of the above are character-related, personal, and self-shortcoming.

Muhammad had a lot of enemies from his relatives, tribe, people, and nation. They stood up against him, inflicted harm on him, and deported him from his homeland. They fought him aggressively in many battles which continued for many years. Despite the fact that his party was the weak and less in number in these battles, he was always victorious. Every victory was remarkable in a different way and each time, there was divine intervention to save Muhammad and support him despite the strength and great number of his enemy. Like all the other prophets and messengers before him, Muhammad had very little supporters and followers. Yet, he stood up strongly against his enemies in an extraordinary way that has no like.

If you review the history and its events during this age in time, you would wonder how such a simple and humble person could fulfill such mission considering the sharp teeth of his enemies. How did he escape them when they were the majority and they were the stronger and powerful party? So who is the one who saved and rescued him from their evil? Who enabled him to fulfill his mission, deliver the message, and widespread his religion which came from Allah the Great? There is no doubt that the great and powerful God who sent him also protected him and gave him victory in the battles, despite all the odds, the opposing circumstances and the well-known earthly standards. So this alone stands as strong and irrefutable evidence that indicates the truthfulness of Muhammad and validity of his prophethood and message.

3) History testifies that many of the prophets and messengers foretold the prophecy of a last messenger in numerous occasions, whether directly or via books/tablets which they relayed from the Divine Creator. They provided details regarding his time and place of appearance, physical description, and signs of his prophethood. Sure enough, these characteristics and signs perfectly matched and corresponded with the personality, physical characteristics, place and time of appearance of Muhammad.

The prophets of God like Adam, Noah, and Abraham have foretold of his expected appearance and qualities and they prayed to God to support him and facilitate the accomplishment of his mission and make the people embrace his message. We have the Torah, the book that God revealed to Moses (AS) which provides specific details of Muhammad’s physical characteristics and time and place of appearance. It calls for the people to follow him when he appears and to believe and support him. Prophet Jesus (AS) also gave glad tidings that Muhammad will appear soon after him and he even specified his name.

So, it is no wonder that we see the Jewish and Christian scholars in the Arabian Peninsula propagating the appearance of the Prophet who was mentioned in their books. This happened shortly before the setting and official inauguration of Muhammad's prophethood. When some of them saw Muhammad as a young child traveling alongside his uncle Abu Talib, they recognized him from his different unique characteristics and they even advised his uncle to take care and protect his nephew because he (Muhammad) is the awaited Seal of Prophets. After Muhammad assumed the status of prophethood and received the divine message, many of the rabbis, monks, and clerics came to listen, ask, test, and identify him. Some of them even believed him when they witnessed signs of his prophethood which has been passed down by the preceding prophets and in the divine books. They promised to support and help him.

Some of them accepted Islam and others preferred to follow their own personal interests, fanaticism, and lower desires. These clerics, monks, and rabbis who bear knowledge from their books regarding the last prophet and actually believed in Muhammad when they came to know him, stand as strong proofs against those who refused to believe in him. After all, those who believed in Muhammad did not possess any motivation or personal interest in doing so; rather they suffered and underwent a lot of hardship when they believed in him and embraced Islam. On the other hand, those who disbelieved and turned away had a lot of motivation in doing so.

To clarify the picture to you, consider this example: A wealthy man disappeared years ago, so his relatives inherited him. However, after a period of time, a man came and claimed that he is the wealthy man who disappeared years ago and he came to request his money from his relatives. Now, in order for the judge to verify the identity of this man to determine whether he is indeed the wealthy man who disappeared, he summoned seven witnesses from those who personally knew the missing wealthy man and knew his physical characteristics very well. These seven men were asked to meet the man who claimed that he is the wealthy man who disappeared long ago. Three out of seven of these witnesses recognized him and confirmed that he is indeed the missing wealthy man. As for the other four men, they denied him and indicated that he is not the wealthy man who disappeared.

At the same token, we know that these four men are among his relatives who inherited him and became very wealthy because of his disappearance. In this case, what do you think the judge will rule? Will he have doubt, or will he accept the testimony of the three unbiased men over the other four men who have personal interest in this matter? Will he accept the identity of the man who claimed that he is the missing wealthy man and order that his wealth be returned to him? Dear Reader, what will be your judgment in this case if you were the judge and how will you make your decision based on wisdom and sound judgment?

Furthermore, how will it affect your judgment if you learned that the three witnesses who confirmed the identity of the man are also among the relatives of the missing man in question and inherited and benefited from his disappearance too? But they chose to testify the truth and ignore their personal interests in this matter. Will you then have any doubt left in the integrity of the testimony of those three men over the other four biased men? We leave the matter for you to judge, dear Reader, and afterwards, the logic and truth will be clear to you. At this point, we'll be glad to present to you some examples to support what we had stated before.

First: There is Abdullah ibn Saloom who was a famous Jewish scholar and rabbi in Yathrib, Khaybar, and all of the Arabian Peninsula. He was well-known for his extensive knowledge and jurisprudence compared to other clerics. When he became sure of the signs of prophethood in Muhammad, he embraced the new religion which he identified very well based on the Torah. He didn't hesitate to accept Islam and follow Muhammad in the new religion. He used to say to Muhammad (SA) later on, “We knew you, Oh Rasulullah, just like we knew our children and family; even more due to the great quantity of your characteristics that we find in our holy books.”

Second: There is Salman the Persian, a man who researched many different religions and finally became a Christian. He spent time with a Christian monk in the area of Sham (includes Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine) and accompanied him for a period of time during which the knowledgeable monk informed Salman that the Last Messenger mentioned in their sacred books will soon appear. He gave prophecy that this prophet will migrate later to a place in the Arabian Peninsula called Yathrib. The monk then advised Salman when he was on his deathbed to go to Yathrib and meet the Seal of Prophets and to believe and follow him. He urged him to support this Last Messenger and fight with him. The monk then gave Salman a sign for him to recognize the prophet.

Sure enough, Salman fulfilled the monk's will because he was a devout and obedient man who loves God. He migrated to Yathrib and when he met Muhammad, Salman wanted to verify his identity from the sign which the monk indicated to him. As Salman was in the process of thinking about how to confirm his identity, Muhammad raised his shirt and exposed his back. He asked Salman to take a look between his shoulders so he can view the sign of his prophecy which the cleric told him is present on his back. When Salman recognized the mark of prophethood on his back, he verified the prophethood of Muhammad and was certain that he is indeed the last awaited messenger whom he came to meet. So Salam believed in him, embraced his religion, fought with him, and became one of the most righteous people of his time.

Third: There is Najashi, the King of Ethiopia and one of the scholars of Christianity. When he heard Jafar ibn Abi Taleb recite some verses of the Holy Quran, he and those Christian clerics surrounding him wept and he said, “This revelation and that which Prophet Jesus delivered is indeed coming from the same source!” He believed in the prophethood of Muhammad, although he did not embrace Islam. He welcomed the followers of Muhammad and supported him, and he admitted that whatever Muhammad conveyed is the truth from God, just like the truth that Prophet Jesus (AS) conveyed.

Fourth: There is Caesar, the King of Eastern Roman Empire. Abu Sufyan, the leader of Mecca and the head of the opposing force who refused to believe in Muhammad and fought against him, came to ask Caesar for his support. Ceaser then asked him about the attributes of this man who claimed prophethood. He requested that Abu Sufyan describe the characteristics of Muhammad and he asked him specific questions.

From the answers he got from Abu Sufyan, Ceaser became very certain of the prophethood of Muhammad and presented the truth of what he learned to his confidants and advisors after Abu Sufyan left. He presented to them the facts he has known from Abu Sufyan and requested them to adopt the new religion and to believe in the prophethood of Muhammad. However, his people rejected the truth and denied Caesars' talk. They even threat to revolt and overthrow him if he embraced Islam, due to blind fanaticism and personal interests. King Caesar had no choice but to give up and submit to their desires despite the truth he learned of Muhammad’s prophethood.

Fifth: A delegation of Christian priests and elders from the city of Najran (southern part of the Arabian Peninsula) came to Medina to debate and negotiate with Muhammad. He challenged them to Mubahala (Imprecation) by the orders of God, which means that both parties invoke from Allah (SWT) that he who speaks the truth may survive, and he who is untruthful, may perish. The Prophet (SA) specified to them a time and place and they accepted his proposal.

However, when they saw him at the specified time coming and he was accompanied by his two grandsons, daughter, and cousin (son-in-law) who are the members of his household. The greatest scholar and most knowledgeable among them advised his people and said, “Do not imprecate with this man. Verily, I see divine light on the faces of our combatants; I am beholding such faces among them as can make the mountains move from their spots if they pray to God. So Beware! Never try to contest with them, otherwise you will perish and the entire nation of Christians will succumb to extinction!” Sure enough, the Christian delegate returned back from meeting Muhammad and refrained from imprecation.

Sixth: A man called Waraqa ibn Nawfal was knowledgeable of the religious matters and prophecies and he was familiar with the different religions. After he engaged in thorough and extensive research, he accepted Christianity since it was the last of the revelations which descended. When Muhammad and his wife Khadeeja who is related to Waraqa, visited him to tell him how the revelation began to descend on Muhammad and ask his opinion since he is an expert and scholar in religious matters. Waraqa confirmed to Muhammad that he is indeed the awaited seal of prophets. He assured him that what Muhammad experienced was divine inspiration from God via the same angel who communicates the divine inspiration between God and all the prophets. Waraqa promised that he will be one of the first to believe in Muhammad and embrace his religion once he openly conveys his message to the people. Unfortunately, Waraqa did not live long enough to see that day since he was a very old man at that time.

Seventh: When a Jewish man came to Muhammad to question, examine, and test him, he could not control himself and he immediately announced his acceptance of Islam. He believed in Muhammad after he saw his good behavior, forbearance, wisdom, and came to realize that such degree of noble qualities could not be present except in a prophet, just like those prophets before him.

Eighth: A group of scholars from Bani Israel received delegates from Mecca asking them if Muhammad is truthful. So the scholars suggested to them that they test Muhammad and direct a few questions to him that cannot be answered by anyone except a true prophet or messenger from God. These questions included topics about the spirit, the People of the Cave, Dhil Qarnayn, and story of Prophet Joseph (AS). The scholars assured the infidels of Mecca that if Muhammad was able to answer these questions, then he is indeed a prophet and there is no doubt in his truthfulness. When the infidels presented these questions to Muhammad, these questions were considered to be a great test of his prophethood. He did not know the answers immediately, so he prayed to God to inspire him with the answers.

Sure enough, Muhammad received divine inspiration from God in the form of verses from the Holy Quran which gives full details of the answers to their questions. When the answers were presented to the scholars of Bani Israel, they verified its accuracy and correctness and they acknowledged the prophecy of Muhammad as well as his Book as the Final Revelation, as foretold in the Torah and other sources. So the infidels were surprised when they found out that these answers were truly correct. Some of them accepted Islam and believed in Muhammad, while others insisted on their stubbornness and disbelief. Dear Reader, after learning this, is there any doubt left in your mind about the logic behind the truthfulness of Muhammad and what he conveyed on behalf of God?

4) Let us take a close look at the story of Prophet Abraham (AS) who is considered to be the father of the Prophets, since many of them came from his offspring, as God promised him so and there is no any disagreement over that. Abraham was finally granted two boys when he reached old age. His first son is Ishmael who lived with his mother Hagar in Mecca, by the order of Allah (SWT). At that time, the land in Mecca was barren and lifeless, without any water present. The second son is Isaac who stayed with his father. As we mentioned, God promised Abraham to grant him prophethood in his offspring and progeny. Yet, we know that Abraham had two sons, both who are prophets themselves.

So logic and common sense dictates that in order to fulfill His promise to Abraham fairly, the Divine Justice would be established by granting prophethood to each of the son’s progeny; that is, both Isaac and Ishmael. As for some of those from Bani Israel who claim that God promised Abraham to grant him prophethood only in the sons of Isaac, this tradition is not confirmed and not unanimous. Furthermore, it contradicts the logical attribute of God that He is the Absolute Justice. Rather, what makes more sense is that God grant prophethood to the progeny of both sons of Abraham, so long that both sons are purified messengers from God.

Sure enough, Isaac was blessed with a son called Jacob (Israel) who was a prophet and was in turn blessed with a son called Joseph who was also a prophet. From Benjamin's (son of Jacob) progeny, the following prophets appeared after him: Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon, John, Zachariah, and Jesus. Hence, the covenant of God was accomplished in the progeny of Isaac, the son of Abraham. However, there did not appear anyone who claimed to be a prophet or messenger from the offspring of Ishmael, son of Abraham, except Muhammad. Therefore, it was inevitable that he would be a true prophet in order for the Justice of Allah (SWT) to be accomplished on the awaited progeny of Ishmael. In such case, the covenant of Abraham would be fulfilled and each of his sons would be fathers to one or more prophet.

On the other hand, the fact that Isaac had many prophets in his progeny while Ishmael had only one is considered to be injustice. So in order for justice to be accomplished, it is logical that God would counterbalance that inequality by providing uniqueness to Muhammad, that is to say that he is the Seal of Prophets and the Last of the Messengers who would deliver the final, cumulative, and universal message that is directed to all of humanity. Now, the balance is in equilibrium between Ishmael and Isaac. Isn’t justice and equality beautifully achieved between the two sons of Abraham in this fashion by the Divine and Absolute Justice?

If you yourself wanted to be fair with your sons, is there anything else you could do to accomplish this justice or would you do anything less than that? Thus, it is clear that the prophethood of Muhammad is indeed from the progeny of Ishmael and is in agreement with logical reasoning and sound judgment. Any other possibility contradicts the absolute attributes of Allah (SWT) which we believe in.

5) As we mentioned before, Allah (SWT) has commanded Prophet Abraham to take his wife Hagar and infant son Ishmael and drop them off in an infertile land in the middle of a barren desert where there is no life or water and to return back home. This event happened for a specific wisdom that only Allah (SWT) knows. Sure enough, Abraham obeyed the order of Allah (SWT) although his heart ached over his infant son whom he was blessed with at old age. After all, Abraham is a prophet and if he doesn’t obey the orders of Allah (SWT), then who will?

Afterwards, God burst out a spring of water in the middle of the desert to save Hagar and her infant son Ishmael from dying of thirst. With the presence of water, life began to sprout in that place and vegetation started to grow. Tribes began to gradually settle in the area near Hagar and her infant son. With time, a little community started to establish itself. After a period of time, Abraham returned to see what happened to his wife and son. God ordered him to build the sacred House in that specific location with the help of his young son Ishmael. Together, Abraham and Ishmael built the Holy House of Allah (SWT) and ordered the people to perform pilgrimage (Hajj) from everywhere, as Allah (SWT) inspired. A whole community and city developed around the Holy House which became known as Mecca.

Eventually, an entire nation flourished in the surrounding area which became the Arab nation. This nation which developed from nothing in a place that had no life did so but by the will and power of Allah (SWT). He (SWT) directly intervened as we mentioned and through the building of His Sacred House in this very distinct place. If God did not choose this specific location, Mecca would not have existed nor the Arab nation. Moreover, God sent messengers before and after that event to nearly all the nations on Earth except this Arab nation. No prophet or messenger ever came to this place to communicate a divine revelation with its own language as was the case with other nations. Is it logical that God abandon this nation which He (SWT) established by His Power and Wisdom (as we demonstrated earlier) and made it surround His Holy House? Would He (SWT) abandon the nation which He directly established by His divine will, without sending a prophet or messenger who can communicate to those people with their language and be one of them?

It is rather expected that God would send a prophet to this nation from its own people and that the appearance of this prophet would be alongside the Holy House of Allah (SWT) in Mecca which became filled with idols, misguidance, and polytheism. All this can be comprehended and logically expected, even if it still didn’t happen. No prophet or messenger ever appeared in this Arab nation except Muhammad, whether before or after him. So it is logical that he, Muhammad, is indeed the awaited prophet of this nation which was created and established by the power and will of God. Thus, it will be just like the other nations that received a divine message related to it by a messenger from its own people. This is surely consistent and in agreement with the Absolute Justice and Wisdom of God.

7) Furthermore, what does the development of this specific nation in such extraordinary and unique circumstances indicate? After all, this nation has been established by the inspiration of God to his prophet Abraham (AS). There surely has to be a great wisdom behind the development of this nation! A wisdom that is greater than just sending a prophet to it in the future just like the other nations on Earth. Furthermore, this nation surrounded the only Holy House of Allah (SWT) on earth; doesn’t that indicate a great wisdom?!

So, if a prophet from this nation came and claimed that he is the Seal of Prophets and that his message is directed to all of humanity in everyplace and is the final message from God, wouldn’t it make perfect sense that this is indeed the great wisdom of creating this nation in this specific place surrounding His Holy House? This is clearly logical since God willed to prepare and set the stage for His final message and choose a special location for it as well as a special nation and language. All this preparation started ever since God ordered Prophet Abraham to take his wife Hagar and beloved son to this strange, desolate place. Afterwards, the divine will created this nation and set the stage for the events which will lead to the appearance of the final prophet and the seal of messages.

Then God perfected His will by sending Muhammad and His Message starting from this nation which He (SWT) has established and developed and from this place which the divine will intended for this site to be His sacred House. So the unique status of the formation, preparation, and development of this nation by the Divine Creator in the hands of Abraham and his son Ishmael fits very well and is in agreement with the unique status of the Muhammadan message being that it is the final message directed to all of the humanity, not just one nation. So this is a clear and logical proof that the message of Muhammad is indeed the last of the divine revelations and is a universal and all-inclusive religion directed to everyone in every place and time. Here, the mind can understand and appreciate the great wisdom of God for the development of this nation in a direct manner.

7) It has also been confirmed by many of the prophets and messengers through their narrations that the divine revelation of the Seal of prophets and messengers will not only become the final message, but it will be directed to ALL of humanity and not only a group of people. Hence, every prophet conveyed to their followers and believers beforehand about the prophethood of the last messenger and urged them to follow that prophet when he appears and adopts his message because it is the final revelation from God to all of humanity. So this is yet another proof to indicate the universality and inclusiveness of Muhammad’s message to all people which is why most prophets made it a point to mention him over all other prophets.

8) Since we have now acquired enough confidence of the truthfulness of Muhammad's prophecy and message, we must also add that Muhammad himself informed us and made it clear that his message is directed to all people at all times and places. He emphasized that his message is universal and incumbent on everybody to follow. He asserted that the people will be questioned by God in this matter on the Day of Judgment. Since it is established so far that Muhammad is truthful in his message and this part of his message, then it is logical that all parts of his message are also truthful. So long as we believe in him and proved his truthfulness, that applies also to everything he relayed to us. So it is logical and reasonable to believe that his message is universal as he conveyed from God.

9) More than 1420 years have passed ever since the time of Muhammad and until now, no any prophet or messenger appeared. Doesn’t that indicate his truthfulness that he is truly the last of the messengers and prophets? Otherwise, if there was a prophet after him, then why didn’t this prophet appear all this time? Hence, this is yet another logical proof that Muhammad is indeed the Seal of Prophets and Messengers!

10) In general, humanity was developed and structured during the time of Muhammad in such a way that allows for the revelation of the Last Message which is directed to all of humanity. This was impossible to happen in the early stages when humanity did not yet complete its maturity and development to make it ready to receive this final divine message. So the coinciding of the arrival of humanity to this stage of maturity with the revelation of the last message is clear and the logical evidence points to its universality. Such a critical message will need a certain level of development, organization, civilization, and communication to be present to make it feasible for this monotheistic message to grow, become widespread, be understood, followed, and applied at any place and any time.

During this era, humanity was distinguished by reaching a certain degree of understanding, morality, noble behavior, and good manners. Man came to know more about the earth which he lives on and the universe surrounding it. He learned how to plant, make, manufacture, trade, and travel, etc. He came to know of his Creator through prophets and messengers. He learned how to communicate with his fellow brother in humanity in far places. Ideology, politics, and economics had developed. Different civilizations had advanced and flourished in many places on Earth. All this development made man more fit and prepared psychologically, mentally, morally, and spiritually to embrace the final universal message regardless of his place, color, language, or time.

So the emergence of this final revelation in this time particularly is a clear proof to indicate its universality and all-inclusiveness. After all, if this message was revealed to humanity during the Stone Age, for example, we would’ve questioned ourselves: How could this message emerge at a time when man is still underdeveloped, inexperienced, and unprepared? Likewise, if this message did not emerge until today, we would’ve wondered why all this delay when man was ready long ago to embrace such message. Therefore, the coincidence here is proof to indicate the validity of the universal status of the message and its inclusiveness to everyone.

11) If we take a close look at the nature of Muhammad’s message and its content, and compared and contrasted it to the divine revelations from the other prophets, we will immediately realize many and major differences which makes it unique compared to others. The most important of these differences is that it is more specific, more organized in the social affairs, and more regulated in the political, economic, religious, military, and judicial affairs of humanity. The message involved itself in the daily affairs of man, even the simple and daily routine. Hence, it provides a complete program and set of guidelines to the way of life from the beginning of the day when you wake up till the end when you go to sleep.

For that reason, it is fit for everyone and provides a comprehensive program to run our lives and addresses every issue we may encounter, whether big or small. However, what's more magnificent in the message which makes it unique over the other revelations is the amount of flexibility that is present in it. The message provides to us all what we need without placing any hardship on us in following the program it provides to us. To create a complete daily program is great. But what is greater is if this program is so flexible that it accommodates all human lifestyles which could differ greatly from person to person.

The combination of major differences between the final message compared to the messages before it, added to the comprehensiveness of this regulated and cumulative program, as well as the amazing and well-designed flexibility of this institution; all of that indicate that the final message is universal and cumulative. After all, if it was limited in its time and place (like its predecessors), it would be very similar to them. In that case, we would not find these great differences, nor this complete cumulative program or remarkable flexibility. All of these factors were not present in the previous revelations, so we can reasonably conclude that the nature of the Muhammadan message and its content is a logical proof to all people that it is irrefutable and indicates the finality, comprehensiveness, and universality of the message.

12) We had previously demonstrated and proved without any doubt that among the attributes of the Divine and Great Creator is that no one can falsely claim prophethood on His behalf or convey a message which Allah (SWT) does not approve. All of the prophets and messengers have confirmed this attribute of God. So if Allah (SWT) does not accept that someone lies on his behalf in the most trivial matters, then how can He (SWT) allow a person to not only falsely claims that he is a prophet, but also claim that he is the seal of prophets and the last of messengers who is delivering the final revelation from God to all of humanity in everyplace?!

Dear Reader, is it logical that God accept this extreme and serious fabrication from an ordinary man? Furthermore, will He (SWT) enable that fabricator to continue with his lies and misguide the people with a fake message that is claimed to be directed to all of humanity? After all, God didn’t accept for one nation or one group of people to be misguided, then how can He (SWT) accept that all of humanity be misguided? This is surely illogical, unacceptable, and contradicts the absolute attributes of God. In such case, God would definitely send another messenger at least to expose the lies of this fake messenger and expose his false claim.

However, what we see is the complete opposite! God supported Muhammad, granted him victory and assisted him to widespread the message. This in itself is the greatest proof that Muhammad is indeed the Last Messenger sent from God. To make the picture more clear to you, consider this example: Suppose that a person in America falsely claimed that he is a representative or messenger to a nonexistent God, or that he is sent from outer space, or that he is the king of a distant island. Do you think the President of the USA will question him on his claim or even pay any attention to him? The mind and logic says no, since in these countries, every person has the freedom of speech so long as he doesn’t inflict harm on others.

However, suppose that this man came and claimed falsely that he is a member or official in the administration of the President Himself, or that he represents and speaks in the President’s name. Do you think the President will accept that and stay silent in front of this liar who claims that he speaks in His name, but he really doesn't? Don’t you think that the President will arrest this imposter, expose his fraud to everyone, and send him to jail? We can imagine that the fate of the imposter be imprisonment and may even be deported from the country! Our mind and logic surely agrees that this is the expected reaction of the President and if something else happened, it would be illogical.

Now imagine that this man came to the American people and claimed that he carries a new message and constitution to them on behalf of the President of the USA and asked them to implement this new constitution and laws. Do you have any doubt that the President will immediately intervene to expose the man’s fraud which is so extreme and could lead to chaos and misguidance of the whole American nation? However, if we saw that the President kept silent towards this man's claim, then there are only three possibilities:

1) The President is in agreement with what the man claims, therefore the man is indeed truthful in what he conveyed.

2) The President is insane and has lost his mind. He wants to misguide his people and can care less about them.

3) The President is weak or dead or non-existent to put an end to the false claims.

So Dear Reader, which of these possibilities do you think is logical? The matter is clear and simple! If the man was lying in this grave matter that will affect all of humanity in the present and future, then it is logical that the President will immediately make the truth apparent by revealing his fraud and punishing him immediately for his audacity in speaking falsely in the President’s name. And if the man is truthful in his claim, the President will remain silent and His silence will be an indication to the truthfulness of the man. If we examine this example more closely and apply it to our topic of discussion, we will realize that there is no doubt that Muhammad is truthful and his message from God is indeed final and universal.

13) There is yet another logical proof which is simple and clear to anyone with sound judgment. In the 1st research topic of the 2nd case study, we had already demonstrated the essentiality of terminating the divine revelations and message, and therefore, the necessity of the appearance of a seal of prophets who would deliver the final divine revelation to all of humanity. So if nobody from the prophets and messengers ever claimed to be the Seal of Prophets who is delivering the final message from God, except only Muhammad, then we can reasonably accept that he is indeed the Last Messenger without contention. Sure enough, as we expected, Muhammad claimed that he is delivering the final revelation from God that is comprehensive and universal. Dear Reader, is there now any doubt in your mind whatsoever after what we have discussed regarding the truthfulness of Muhammad, his message, its universality, finality, and comprehensiveness?

14) Some may argue: Why couldn’t there be more than one messenger sent by God simultaneously to deliver the same final message? In such case, each of them would convey that message to a group of people whom they are one member of and would all speak the same language. Why was it necessary that the Last Messenger be only one person who speaks one language, yet deliver the message to all people regardless of their language or culture? This question is reasonable to ask, however, if we think more closely, we will realize the following:

First: The presence of more than one messenger simultaneously to deliver the same message in different places with different languages, will certainly lead to multiplicity of opinions, interpretations, and application from every nation. This will be due to differences in language, culture, and inclination, which will undoubtly lead to the loss of the essence of the religion and lack of unity in its pure teachings and content. We may find ourselves after several years in front of a number of different messages rather than just one. This is logical due to multiplicity of sources present, therefore, the best and logical scenario would be only one source for the Final Message.

Second: It is of human nature that every group and every nation will tend to be more loyal to their own prophet or messenger, even if the overall message is the same. With time, the presence of such loyalty and fanaticism will cause some people to some may add or delete from the message in order to make their messenger or prophet more unique and better than the others, as it is also of human nature. Thus, in order to prevent and avoid the occurrence of deviation and fanaticism, it is logically better and more wise that there exist only one final messenger who is sent to all people to avoid disagreement or favoritism towards him.

Third: If there are multiple sources for one message, how can we be sure that the people and nation don’t disagree in the long run over the source of this message? One group of people may claim that their messenger is representing a different God than the other nations, and so on and so forth. Overtime, this may possibly lead to infidelity, polytheism, and deviance due to multiplicity of sources for the final message. Also, man by nature has the tendency behave that way due to his racial conflicts. So in order to accomplish unity, it is better and safer that only one messenger deliver the one message from the one God to all people.

Fourth: God desires unity for humanity without a doubt, so if He (SWT) sent numerous messengers all at the same time to them to deliver the final message, it will be analogous to calling them for division, separation, and fanaticism. This is illogical and inconsistent with the call of God for unity, cooperation, and people getting along with each other. It contradicts the call to refrain from discrimination and prejudice that will certainly lead to division, animosity, and war. Therefore, we can rationally conclude that in order to urge the people to become united, only one messenger must be sent who will convey to them the final and universal message.

We can now understand why God willed that there only exist one messenger who speaks one language who is sent to all people. In this case, there is great hint from God to call people to unity, to abandon division, partition, and racism, to unite on the worship of the One and Only God, to follow the final cumulative message, and to adopt the noble human morals and values which may bring all people together in unity regardless of their time, place, language, culture, skin color, or appearance. Dear Reader, do you think these noble objectives may be accomplished more easily with one messenger or with many different messengers even if they’re all calling for the same message?

The logical answer to this question is that one messenger will make it easier to accomplish the goal and is fit for the situation. It is the natural judgment of the mind and logic. To present a practical example of this idea, we propose this scenario to our minds: You have an example in the General Secretary of the United Nations who by nature of his position delivers a universal message to all nations and countries. Do you think that the general secretary is only one secretary, or more than one secretary who each carry the same message and play the same role but in different places, using different languages? What we observe is that the countries which established the international organization have chosen to appoint only one secretary to play that role. Why? Well, that is because it is the wise and logical judgment to make in such cases.

From the previous items 1-14, after thorough study and contemplation, and after using our bare minds and logical reasoning, we can with all confidence and faith conclude the following truth without any doubt:

2nd Conclusion

The mind and logic confirms and concludes the truthfulness of the prophethood of Muhammad and truthfulness of his message. He is truly the awaited Seal of Prophets and the Last Messenger whom we anticipate his appearance. He is the deliverer of the final message which is directed to all of mankind in every place and time. This divine message is cumulative, comprehensive and universal (international) without being bound to any time or place. This conclusion is essential, inevitable, and cannot be denied or refuted using logical reasoning and sound judgment.

3rd Research Topic - The Nature of Islam and the Final Muhammadan Message: Logic and Inevitability of Accepting and Abiding By This Religion

Proposed Questions:

What is the nature of Muhammad’s final and universal message?

Is it incumbent on everybody to embrace and believe in Islam as well as follow and abide by it?

What is the logical reasoning and essentiality behind that?

Logical Reasoning:

1) As for the nature of the Islamic religion which is final and comprehensive, its foundation is not very different from the other divine revelations that preceded it. The only thing that is different is that this new religion is distinguished with additional unique characteristics in its branches and the method of approach and codification that would be appropriate, considering its comprehensiveness and universality to all people at any time and place. We can briefly summarize these unique characteristics and content as follows:

First: Final warning to all human beings that they must abandon the worship of anything but Allah, the One and Great Creator. They must absolutely obey Him alone and refrain from associating any partner, resemblance, like, equal, rival, son or inappropriate attribute from that of the creatures or any adjective that contradicts His absolute attributes.

Second: Final warning to all human beings to abandon evil and refrain from corruption, committing sins, and inflicting harm on others. This is for the sake of running the universe in an organized and peaceful manner as God desires. Humans must not spread corruption on earth because of his deviant actions. If he does that, then he is standing against the will of the Great Creator whom no one should ever oppose or object to.

Third: To all those who responds positively to the above-mentioned warnings, God sends glad tidings of forgiveness, mercy, and a great paradise which has no limit in space and have all types of enjoyment; that which you can imagine and that which you can’t. They will live there eternally and happily ever after. On the other hand, those who respond negatively, disobey God, insists on infidelity and disbelief, commits sin, evil, corruption and inflicts harm on others, God warns him of punishment, disgrace, and destruction in this life and the Hereafter. He will be exposing himself to the wrath of God and Hell-Fire where he abodes there eternally, except those whom God decides to have mercy on. On the Day of Judgment, God has Paradise and Hell-Fire, eternal bliss and eternal punishment. Paradise and eternal bliss are for the obedient, good, and righteous believers, while Hell-Fire and eternal punishment are for the evil, the infidels, the nonbelievers, and the disobedient.

Fourth: Allah (SWT) is Forgiving and Merciful. So whoever repents to Him and regrets his wrongful action, and returns back to Him, Allah (SWT) will forgive him and have mercy on him. He (SWT) will excuse him no matter how much or how great his sins are (if this person is truly sincere in his repentance, regret, and return to God). This is because the compassion and mercy of Allah (SWT) are absolute and have no limits for those who are truthful and sincere in their repentance, regret, and return to Him.

Fifth: Allah (SWT) has approved this final message and religion to all of humanity. As for those who insist on adopting another religion, Allah (SWT) will not accept it from them on the Day of Judgment. He (SWT) will question them and set them accountable in this matter even if they were following one of the preceding religions that He (SWT) revealed before Islam.

Sixth: The Day of Resurrection is surely coming without any doubt. No one knows its exact time except Allah (SWT). When this day comes, the life of the Hereafter will begin whether it is bliss or punishment. On this fateful day, Allah (SWT) will resurrect all human beings and they will return as they were, by the power of Allah (SWT) who created them the first time. Then He (SWT) will reckon them in everything they did during their lives, as they have the choice and free will to do good or evil. God will question them whether they followed the prophets and messengers and the extent of their abidance to their religion and the final religion, Islam. Finally, Allah (SWT) will judge whether to give them eternal bliss and Paradise, or punishment and Hell-Fire. This will be the case after He calls the witnesses and hears their testimony, for He is the Absolute Justice. No one has the authority to change His judgment or make intercession to Him except those whom Allah (SWT) gives permission.

Seventh: The Final Revelation narrates details of the creation of Adam and Eve and their seduction by the devil. It recounts that they descended to Earth in the state of test and trial, and they were given free will to do as they please. There are also details regarding stories of some of the prophets and messengers, and clarification of the truth from the falsification that the people came up with using their imagination. There are also other stories which all have lessons and wisdom so that man may benefit from them in his life for the sake of the Hereafter.

Eighth: The religion outlines specific laws and rules in many of our social, political, financial, religious, and doctrinal fields which we must abide by. These regulations which God defined and established by His Will are obligatory on his servants and those who believe in Him. As for those who disobey these regulations, they have yet an opportunity for repentance, remorse, and return to the right way. As for those who insist on disobedience till their deaths, they have surely disbelieved in the worship of Allah (SWT) and have challenged Him. Allah (SWT) will reckon them in this matter with His Justice and judge them as He pleases on the Day of Judgment, and severe punishment will await them.

Ninth: The Message contains a clear and comprehensive program for upbringing, discipline, and good behavior which a person should ornament himself with. That is to say, if he desires a safe exit from this worldly life, if he seeks the pleasure of Allah (SWT), if he wants Him to increase his good deeds, and if he wishes to live a normal and secure life.

Tenth: Furthermore, the Message objected greatly to infidelity, hypocrisy, and corruption. It strongly opposed the nonbelievers, hypocrites, obstinate, corrupt, and immoral people. It exposed their evil ways, warned them, and warned the people about them. It directed a strong threat of punishment from Allah (SWT) to them in this world and in the Hereafter. This is the consequence for taking Allah (SWT) as their enemy and opposing His worship and those who believed and obeyed Him. This is what they deserve for opposing those who sought the good and rejected the evil. The Message provided a detailed clarification of the types of nonbelievers, hypocrites, and evil people which may have not been clear before. The Seal of Messengers set things straight and presented to us a set of measures that will enable us to judge and make evaluations of a person whether he is corrupt, hypocrite, infidel, or disbeliever, etc.

Hence, the religion did not leave room for people to create these measures by themselves and make judgments on their own, according to their personal interests. It did not leave room for them to set the standards which could be used to judge a person and his deeds. So it did not allow the people to lay themselves these measures and use these human measures to judge anyone they want with infidelity, corruption, and hypocrisy, depending on their personal judgment. In this, there is protection to the human society and it provides a clear set of measures that leaves no room for doubt or interpretation without authentic proof from the message.

Eleventh: The Islamic message made it very clear that the relationship between man and His Creator should be governed by complete submission and unconditional surrender to Him. For this reason, the final religion was named “Islam” to emphasize the importance of this aspect in the relationship between man and his Lord. The real implication meant here is for the person to fully submit all of his matters to Allah (SWT) so that He (SWT) may judge on it based on the laws that He (SWT) established and conveyed in the message. Islam means to completely surrender to that divine judgment and accept it.

Furthermore, a person should become an obedient and humble slave who dedicates himself, his spirit, and his whole existence to his Creator. His life should be revolving around the continuous worship and service to his Lord, just like the life of a slave who serves his master 24/7 around the clock. He should submit to the will of God since it is the divine will, and this is the true meaning of the word “Islam”, as Allah (SWT) intended it to be the name of His final and last religion.

Twelfth: The message emphasized that we must be aware that Allah (SWT) knows everything inside of us. He knows all of our secrets and sees everything we do, even if the others don’t know about it. So, He is well-informed about us in every moment and it is impossible to run or hide from Him. One cannot hide anything from Him, for there are two angels present with every person who are appointed to keep record of all his deeds in a book. One of the angels records the good deeds while the other records the bad deeds. These two angels accompany the person at all times in every place.

Furthermore, the religion urged the people to fear Allah (SWT) and to have piety and bashfulness from Him because He is Watchful over us and Aware of everything inside of us. The call for Taqwa (fear of God) is one of the essentials of the final religion which leads to prevention of sin before its occurrence and cure of disease before it develops and spreads. The person should control himself when a negative thought or evil idea merely crosses his mind, since he knows that Allah (SWT) is very well aware of everything inside of him. If the person feared Allah (SWT) and rejected these negative thoughts from the start, we would have prevented much of the evil that takes place in the world around us. Even if the person who committed a wrongdoing realized that Allah (SWT) is watching him, he will fear Him, repent to Him, and seek His forgiveness.

Thirteen: Islam made it very clear that Allah (SWT) does not place a burden that is greater than what we can bear. He (SWT) alleviated the people from some of the restrictions that were obligatory on them in the previous religions. Islam explained that Allah (SWT) will not account for mistakes, forgetfulness, nor actions induced by force, and will not punish the sin except after the person hears and receives the divine message. For example, a Jewish person who did not receive a revelation except from Prophet Moses is only accountable for the message he was conveyed. This will be the case with the rest of the people.

Furthermore, out of His Mercy and Compassion, Allah (SWT) excused the sick, handicapped, insane, traveler, poor, and needy person from performing some of the obligatory worship and rituals. He gave the chance for the accused to prove his innocence, and confirmed the principle that doubt stands in favor of the defendant and the defendant is innocent until proven guilty beyond any reasonable doubt. Furthermore, Allah (SWT) opened the door for repentance and recompense of one’s sins. All of that indicates the great flexibility that is present in this message in order to accommodate all people, which made it unique compared to all the other divine revelations.

Fourteen: Since Islam is the divine message sent to all of humanity, it is built on a very important foundation and that is, absolute equality between all human beings. There is no any difference between them in front of God the Creator, except how much faith and piety they have in Him. Being that true faith and fear of the Lord are not known by anyone except by God, then we must consider all of the people equal in everything because they are all creatures of God. Hence, there is no favoritism, bias, racism, or gender discrimination of any type. Therefore, the people are all equal and have the same rights and obligations in front of God. The road of God is open to all people depending on their obedience to God, their sincerity, efforts, intentions, wisdom, and purity of their hearts.

Fifteenth: The Message emphasized the importance of the Holy Quran, and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad and the Imams from his household. The message states clearly that they both are the core of the message and its soul. Both the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet and the Imams of his household carry the content of the message and are a part of it. They are the essence and backbone of the Divine Message. So, whoever holds on to them, acquires the teachings of the religion from them, studies them, and worships God through them and obeys them, he has certainly come to know the truth of the message and have followed it the right way. As for those who neglects them or takes one while abandoning others, they have surely gone astray and have not accomplished what’s required. They will gain only part of the message, and that is not enough and unacceptable to God.

Sixteenth: The Final Message is one and cannot be divided. Each component of it complements the others. God made it clear that there is no faith or Islam or message except by adopting the whole content of the message as a package, without any deficiency. All parts of the message are related and interconnected with each other. It’s either you accept it all and therefore please your Lord, or leave some parts out and therefore loose the essence of the message which will bring Allah’s wrath upon you.

Seventeen: God emphasized in the message the importance of people getting acquainted with each other, cooperating with each other, and taking each other as brother. He urged them to refrain from fighting or struggling against each other except for the sake of truth and justice. He (SWT) ordered the Muslims to become one nation who would complete each other, cooperate, love each other, and to reproduce and increase in posterity. He ordered them to stand together against the nonbelievers, polytheists, and hypocrites. They should oppose falsehood and injustice no matter what form it takes. They should be loyal only to the truth and participate together in the mutual teachings of truth, patience, and constancy.

They should enjoin the good and forbid the evil because that is from the foundation and pillars of Islam. God ordered them to be just, fair, and righteous even with their enemies. They should support the oppressed even if he is a nonbeliever. They should try to be good role models harboring good manners, forgiveness, clemency, love, compassion, brotherhood, loyalty, trust, honesty, truthfulness, and patience. They should stay away from nonsense, foolishness, profanity, and everything that God forbid, even if they like or desire it.

Eighteen: God made it clear that He will rule and judge His creation in their conflicts and disagreements on the Day of Judgment. He (SWT) will return the rights of those oppressed and retaliate from the oppressors on that day. The truth of every issue, conflict, debate, and disagreement between two groups or nations (or more) will be clarified and God will judge between them with His Absolute Justice, even in the most trivial of affairs. Every person who has a right will take it on this day. Every righteous person will know that they were on the right path, and every unjust person will realize that they committed wrong. Thus, everyone can be reassured that even if justice was not served in the life of this world, the day will certainly come when the Absolute Justice rules and no oppression or injustice will exist.

The oppressed will take his right from his oppressor and will witness the revenge of God on the oppressors. This will at least cure his heart and pacify his anger. Thus, there is no need to let oppression or injustice infuriate us in the worldly life. There is no need to yield to oppression and loose hope in attaining justice. This is the principle and truth which the Islamic message conveys. It is so critical for the stability of human life and the emotional state of the people which is subject every day to injustice, defeat, falsehood, oppression, and aggression. Experiencing all that may certainly turn human beings into spiteful people who may in also become oppressors and criminals themselves! This may ultimately lead to the prevalence of destruction of the community and corruption of life! The confirmation and application of these principles is unique to Islam and is strongly emphasized, compared to other religions.

Nineteen: To serve and promote all of the goals and contents of the message, as we described earlier.

The components of worship in the message are built on five pillars:

1) To sincerely testify with the heart, tongue, and mind that there is no God but Allah (SWT), and that Muhammad is his slave and Messenger. This testimony entails the belief and conviction of man with the Oneness of God, the Divine Message, and its conveyer. Doing so will guarantee his sincerity in carrying out the teachings, obligations, and content of the message.

2) To perform the five obligatory daily prayers on the specified times, which is preceded by ablution to cleanse one’s body before standing before God. These prayers promote the idea we discussed earlier in item #12, for it serves to remind man every few hours that God is constantly with us and watches our every action. Therefore, we should be bashful and fear Him in every action we do. This way, man will abstain from committing sins, injustice, and oppression, etc. Furthermore, prayer brings the person closer to his Lord and it is an opportunity for him to raise his needs to his Creator and ask Him what he desires.

Through this process, a beautiful relationship may be developed between man and his Creator in which its essence is submission and unconditional surrender to God. This type of relationship would surely help increase the faith and certainty of a servant with His Lord. For the sake of these great important benefits, God made the daily prayers obligatory on every Muslim because prayer is the means by which a person can become a true believer, Muslim, righteous, and pious. It is a way to assess the extent of his sincerity, faith, and obedience to God and His Divine Message.

3) To give Zakat (alms). By definition, Zakat is a certain percentage of a Muslim's property, whether it be gold, silver, cattle, crops, and metals. This percentage of wealth should be distributed to the poor and needy Muslims and those who are in tough times due to difficult circumstances. God has specified the expenditure of the alms. The concept of Zakat serves to promote the ideas we presented earlier in items # 14 and 17. This type of team spirit and economic solidarity between individuals in the Islamic society promotes the racial peace, equality, love, compassion and brotherhood between the people. As a result, no poor or needy person will be spiteful towards the rich, and no rich person will feel disdain or contempt towards the poor. After all, most of the social conflicts, revolts, and fights arose due to the loss of economic harmony and equilibrium in the society. Since money is one of the dearest things to man in this life, giving it away for the sake of God is an indication to his certainty and strength of his faith.

4) Fasting is obligatory during the Holy month of Ramadan. Fasting also serves the foundation of belief and certainty in man that promotes self-discipline which will surely lead to fear of God and train that person to have will power and self-restraint. During the period of fast, the person changes his daily routine by abstaining from eating, drinking, and engaging in marital relations, etc. It transfers him to a new state in which he now views these human carnal desires in a totally different perspective. He benefits from this experience and learns the wisdom behind it which he wouldn’t have appreciated if he didn’t experience fasting. So, he learns patience and realizes that a lot of the things which he's used to and became a necessity for him, he is ready to sacrifice.

Sometimes, the reality becomes apparent that these things are not necessary to our lives, and we can live without it. Fasting teaches man that he shouldn't sacrifice the valuable things of life for the sake of things which are unnecessary and invaluable. It also teaches him not to humiliate himself by running after things which are not vital or necessary to his life and its continuity. The person who fasts will have the opportunity to feel what the poor and deprived feel when they suffer from hunger and thirst, which will in turn soften his heart towards everyone. He will change into a person who possesses feelings, emotions, and compassion towards others.

5) To perform the obligatory pilgrimage (Hajj) to the sacred House of God in Mecca. In this journey, God gathers all of the Muslims together in one place and one time where they all dressing the same uniform. This is to let everyone realize the essence of brotherhood devoid of all worldly appearance and illusory differences which separate between them whether socially, linguistically, ethnically, or politically. Hence, God puts down the arrogant, strengthens the weak, and breaks the arrogance of the conceited and superior. He raises the head of the weak and the submissive people. This is very important for the balance of society in terms of emotion, spirit, behavior, and morality. If this balance is lost, it will certainly lead to social unrest which may very well lead to evil and aggression inflicted on the people. There will be animosity and hostility which will result in combat and warfare. This great gathering in Hajj plants love, affection, and acquaintance between Muslims from all over the world. It encourages them to exchange ideas, opinions, and to identify each other’s problems and bring them closer.

Furthermore, it will give them a sense of unity and strength when they witness the great crowd of fellow Muslims around them. It will strengthen their faith when they see each other worshipping the same God and obeying Him as they perform the same rituals. Whoever is weak in faith or shaky in belief will feel strong when they witness such great crowd performing worship to the one God. This great scene in itself strengthens, enforces, and stabilizes his belief. The extent of faith is shown when the person leaves his daily routine and sacrifices his wealth for this holy journey. This is a proof of the extent of sincerity of his belief and obedience to God. This experience will certainly change the person’s perspective in life in general and give him a better understanding of the wisdom behind it.

So, the pillars of worship in Islam, especially if we add them to enjoining the good and forbidding the evil are the main foundation which lead man to acquire true faith, certainty, and fear of God. Hence, it will lead him to good and sincere worshipping, fine deeds, wisdom, reform, and brotherhood. All of that are desired fruits for the sake of perfection of man's life and his salvation on the Day of Judgment in front of his Lord and Creator.

Twenty: One of the unique aspects that distinguished Islam is its strong campaign, stern attack, complete abolition, and clear warning of usury in all of its forms and what these types of usurious practices carry from destructive effects in human life, whether economical or social. These usurious practices hold negative and destructive effects on the people’s economic and social life. This becomes especially clear in our present time and age in which these usurious dealings have become the essence and backbone of economical life. We see with our own eyes that this policy led to the presence of great social differences between individuals, countries, and societies. It resulted in sucking of blood and money of those who work hard to fill up the pockets of capital owners in the easiest way possible. Usury, by definition, is to make money into goods and trade it, regardless of what type of deal takes place.

Twenty-one: The Message kept in consideration the society in which the divine message was revealed, the society which held the huge responsibility of accepting the faith and propagating it throughout the world. The religion treated it with a special upbringing and dealt with it with leniency at times and by intensity at other times as appropriate. It utilized a sophisticated method and wise program that did not pose a burden on this society which it couldn’t bear, and it did not communicate to him things which he can't understand or reject. Rather, it descended to its level of understanding and comprehension, with the knowledge that this society at its time was one of the most ignorant, undeveloped, and fanatic societies in all fields. So, to descend to the level of understanding and recognition of this society and at the same time, not disturb the content of the message and its cumulativeness and universality, is a very hard task to accomplish! Researchers in modern age should take that into their consideration and count this as a positive point in favor of the message. For example, how can the message communicate to the simple and ignorant Arab that the earth is global just like the celestial bodies that he sees? A simple mind cannot comprehend such idea and that will result in misunderstanding and consequently disbelief, stubbornness, and hostility. Such mind requires a lot in order to persuade and convince it. In many instances, the matter required the descent to his level and not to overload his mind more that he can handle. Actually, most of the laws and rules of the message came in effect gradually like the prohibition of wine and abolition of the slavery system. Enough time was needed in order for the people to understand, realize, and accept the facts. Therefore, we should keep that in consideration and understand it since it is necessary for the propagation of the Message among those who will carry the responsibility of propagating and conveying it to all of humanity.

Twenty-two: The Message strongly called for education and encouraged us to seek knowledge. This could be the divine wisdom for the selection of this illiterate Arab nation to receive the Final Revelation from God. The call for education and learning in a nation that is ignorant is more effective than the call in an already learned and educated nation. Sure enough, that is what happened. Education and knowledge in all fields holds a very high position in Islam, especially beneficial knowledge and sciences which elevate mankind to a high level of humanity, spirituality, morality, materialistically, behaviorally, and intellectually.

Twenty-three: The Message urged humanity to reject oppression, injustice, and aggression in all its forms. It called to stand falsehood when the need arises in order to eradicate it. It urged humanity not to stand silent under any circumstances and at all levels, whether individually, nationally, or governmentally.

Twenty-four: The Divine Message belittled the affair of this worldly life and undermined its importance to man compared to the Hereafter. Rather, it urged man not to become slave of the Dunya (life of this world) and its ornaments, and to his carnal desires. It urged him not to sacrifice his religion, morals, values, and honor for the sake of this worldly life. On the contrary, the message requested him to work for the Hereafter (Akhira) and to sacrifice everything for the sake of the Hereafter. It advised man not to immerse himself in the luxuries of this world and indulge in the pleasures of this life. It advised against extravagance, overspending, and encouraged the people to stay away from living a luxurious life. After all, doing so links him to the world more and makes him become a slave to it and more in need of others.

Twenty-five: The Message made it very clear that the ultimate rule is for God alone, and He is the Absolute Sovereignty. However, God appointed man on earth and ordered him to inhabit and colonize it. So, man should pasture it and take care of the creatures living in it. Furthermore, God gave him some authority in governorship, for man rules by the power of God and carries out His Divine Laws. This is analogous to a king who appoints a governor or ruler to rule one of the villages or cities in the name of the king and in the way he pleases.

So, man should make an effort to understand his role in life and should take it seriously and with complete understanding. He should refuse every regime or system or trend which contradicts it. Man should focus on accomplishing the mission which God assigned to him. That is, to perform good on earth and to benefit from it and to beautify it in every way. He should spread justice on earth and apply the laws of God which He conveyed to him in the final Islamic Message. These are the dominant and upper laws that should be implemented and obeyed. This of course is not a call for aggression against others, but it is simply a call for propagation of the final message to all of humanity.

Twenty-six: The Message warned and attacked many negative aspects of personal behavior and called for avoiding and getting rid of them. These negative attributes include stinginess, selfishness, extravagance, spite, animosity, hatred, envy, arrogance, hypocrisy, lying, jealousy, conceit, haughtiness, vanity, false claim of knowledge, treason, betrayal, backbiting, tail-bearing, boasting, name-calling, foolishness, stupidity, carelessness, recklessness, laziness, dependence, bribing, and nepotism, etc.

Twenty-seven: The Message specified and planned in detail the type of relationships between individuals, community, and the ruler in all of the political, social, and economic fields. It explained the rights and duties of each one of them. It recognized individual property that does not contradict the community's interest and it acknowledged human rights. It recognized the principle of consultation in the matters of life, as well as voting rights. It placed specific requirements, regulations, and limits and it put an end to the hereditary royal system. So there is no king, no crown prince; rather the ruler is elected by the people by their own free will from among those who fulfill the conditions and qualifications which God defined. This process would be overseen by a religious scholar who has the authority to dismiss the ruler if he violates these conditions or rules.

Twenty-eight: The Message gave authority to the religious scholars and clerics who fulfill the required criterion to practice Ijtihad, which means legal decisions are deduced by independent interpretation of the legal sources, the Holy Quran, and the Sunnah (the way of life and practices of the Holy Prophet). These legal statements are made in regard to matters in life which no rule or text descended in the message. Only the religious and diligent scholars and Mujtahids are capable of deducing and making wise judgments based on the general rules and regulations present in the message. The qualifications of such individuals are so strict that it would not be available except in a very few individuals in every age.

So, the matter is not left open to everyone who studies the religious sciences to make legal verdict (fatwa) however they please. Such a critical role demands specific requirements and attributes such as an exceptionally great degree of righteousness, piety, faith, sincerity, doctrine of beliefs, extensive knowledge, justice, and good manners, etc. Those who possess these characteristics collectively are the ones whom all the Muslims must return to for religious questions and concerns in our everyday life.

Twenty-nine: God ordered the Muslims to propagate this final message to all people in every place and time as it belongs to all of humanity and is directed to everyone. Therefore, God made it incumbent on every Muslim to propagate the message to the best of his ability. However, this call and invitation to Islam should be done without pressure, force, or violence, with discretion, wisdom, gentle preaching, soft talk, and by good example.

Thirty: The final Message ordered man not to accept disbelief, infidelity, and polytheism. It urged confrontation and boycotting of disbelievers, polytheists, and atheists and to refrain from making treaties or being cordial with them. This is the case only when there is a divine Islamic just government, as in the time of the Prophet (SA) and when the return of the divine government takes place at the end of time. The Muslims should show enmity to all those who are enemies of God. As for those who are from other divine religions, God has organized the relationship between them and the Muslims. This relationship is based on the worship of the same God who has no partner or associate. It is also based on rejection of the notion that God has a son, since it contradicts His Divine Absolute attributes. It is based on righteousness, justice, fairness, piety, peace, and the freedom to worship. Furthermore, they have to pay a religious tax if they are living in countries ruled by Muslims, in exchange for their protection and care politically, socially, and religiously.

Thirty-one: The Message concentrated on the importance of work in our lives. Employment should be through legitimate sources which God made permissible. A person should work for the sake of God and should not benefit from the nonbelievers, polytheists, or enemies of the Muslims in any way or form, unless it will benefit Islam in the long run. For example, if a Muslim has no choice but to acquire training on a job or trade in the hands of a nonbeliever or polytheist, but his experience will benefit Islam in the long run, then it is permissible. Other than that, the types of jobs that help and benefit the oppressors and enemies of God are not permissible.

Furthermore, the message ordered man to be loyal, sincere, and exert his utmost effort in his work. It considered these noble manners to be a type of worship to God. It called for the people to depend on themselves to earn a living for themselves and their families by their own labor. It discouraged begging, pleading, and unemployment. In order to guarantee self-sufficiency for its soul, its homeland, and its Muslim nation, the Message urged the Muslims to be productive always and not just be a consumer. It encouraged the people to invent and innovate in their work for the benefit of themselves and all of humanity, and this is part of the Caliph’s role on Earth. It allowed for a person to invest his money in businesses (whether trade, industrial, or agricultural-related projects). It prohibited accumulation and hoarding money. Hence, the community would flourish and prosper, and many employment opportunities would be available.

Thirty-two: The Message established the foundation and rules for complete social welfare for the family and society. It called for the care of children, orphans, handicapped, disabled, elders, the poor and needy, and those injured by natural disasters. And for the first time, it recognized and established women’s rights, the rules of marriage and divorce, and the rules of inheritance, etc. It explained the rights of each member of the family towards each other and towards the society. It nullified some of the spoiled prevalent social habits such as exaggeration in dowries, over-spending, and innovation in celebrations and displaying lavishness in such events.

Moreover, it nullified the belief in and practice of magic. The message discouraged exaggeration in feelings and reassured that life does not end when a loved one or thing is lost, rather, life must continue on. Even if a person fails in his first experience, he can try again, and so on and so forth. It urged man to seek medical help when necessary, and it placed rules on the treatment process between medical professionals and patients. It clearly emphasized the responsibility of the ruler in ensuring the social welfare of everyone with justice and in the best way possible.

Thirty-three: The Message made it clear that there is no any relationship whatsoever between luck and worldly grants, and the pleasure and wrath of God, as some may think. It nullified this type of thinking that was common and misguided a lot of people as it continues to mislead them and cause confusion among the people. So, a wealthy man does not necessarily mean that he is more close to God than a poor and unfortunate man.

Thirty-four: The Message exposed many of the distortions that were introduced by some scholars of Ahlul-Kitab (People of the Book) from the previous religions in their books and revelations. Thus, it enjoined the truth and revealed the fabrications and falsehoods. It called them to return back to the origins of their religion as God revealed, and to ignore the distortions and alterations. For example, it confirmed that Jesus the Messiah did not get killed; rather, he was raised to God and will return to Earth at the end of time to call for the true religion and to fight with the Muslims for that cause.

Thirty-five: The Message indicated specifically and without any ambiguity the successorship and Imamate (leadership) after the Last Prophet. It clearly explained that the matter of successorship and Imamate with its appointed individuals is indeed a great part of the message, such that the faith and belief are not completed without it. So whoever accepts the message as a package and adopts the faith with all its details and abides by it, he is indeed from the winners in front of God and will attain salvation on the Day of Judgment. He will enter the blissful Paradise by the mercy of God and will live there eternally.

As for those who refuse to accept the whole message and leaves parts out, there is no compulsion on them and they have the absolute free will to do as they please. On the Day of Judgment, God will question them severely and their reckoning will be difficult. After that, their fate will be up to God. If He (SWT) wishes, He (SWT) will punish or forgive them, for God does as He (SWT) pleases. He (SWT) is Self-Sufficient and is not harmed by their infidelity or disobedience, nor is He (SWT) benefited by their faith and obedience.

As you may recall, we had concluded in the 5th research topic of the first case study, that it is essential and incumbent on every being to give absolute and unconditional obedience to the Divine Creator. Furthermore, we proved in the 6th research topic that all the prophets and messengers are truthful and have fulfilled the requirements for complete and unconditional obedience to God. They themselves emphasized that this is an important part of the faith and is a command from Allah (SWT) to all people. We have also reached the conclusion in the 2nd research topic of the 2nd case study that Muhammad is indeed truthful and his message is from God. So if we know that the Divine Creator ordered us to accept and embrace this final religion, based on all of the logical reasoning we presented earlier, we can conclude that it is incumbent on all of us to obey and adopt this final religion.

There is yet another logical point which the human mind can accept and understand. It is logical for a person to follow and obey the last or most updated order issued from the higher command. For instance, consider this example: A military commander orders his soldiers to attack the enemy in the early morning. Then at noontime, he issued orders for ceasefire and retreat. Finally at sunset, he orders them to resume the fighting and resume the attack. So which of these commands do you think should be obeyed at the present time? There is no doubt logically that the last order which commanded attack should be obeyed.

So if you see some soldiers not attacking with the pretext that the commander previously issued an order for ceasefire and are therefore not committed to the last command, and that they have the right to choose whichever command pleases them, what will you describe these soldiers? You will surely describe them either with stupidity, craziness, or intentional disobedience to the orders of the commander in chief. Is their action in this case appropriate and acceptable? Furthermore, what punishment do you think the commander will inflict on them for their intentional negligence of his last command that is obligatory?

Suppose that a law was issued which ruled five year imprisonment as punishment for a specific crime. Then this law was changed and the punishment for this crime now became seven years imprisonment. Which of these laws will the judge implement when ruling on a defendant who committed this same crime? There is no doubt that he will definitely abide by the new law which rules for seven years imprisonment because the new law overrides and replaces any previous law and has become effective logically and rationally.

Suppose that a ruler or governor directed a message to you that you must pay new taxes consisting of 10% of your income. Then after a year, the governor sent another message stating that you must increase this tax payment to 15% of your income. Now, which of these messages will you obey and carry out? Furthermore, how much tax do you think the governor will expect you to pay now? Logic and common sense says that you must follow the instructions in the new message because it automatically cancels and overrides the previous message. Hence, the governor expects you to pay 15% of your income as the new tax. So, the logic behind following the last or most recent message that invalidates anything before it is clear and cannot be refuted.

4) As we mentioned before, all of the previous messengers and prophets ordered the adherents to follow the last prophet who will deliver the final message from God when he appears. Therefore, it is essential and logical that the followers of these prophets obey their command in following the Seal of Prophets and Final revelation which was actually delivered to them by Muhammad and his message, and that is Islam. They must accept this religion, embrace it and apply it.

5) In the Final Message, God informed that whoever adopts a religion other than Islam, it will not be accepted from him. The religion approved by God is Islam, so whoever accepts and believes in Islam but does not embrace it as a religion, he is totally contradicting logic and sound judgment. He is contradicting his belief and faith in the final religion since he is going against its content which clearly states the essentiality of its embrace, acceptance, and entrance in it, as well as its practice and commitment to it.

6) Furthermore, all of the messages that descended from God before Islam were limited to its place and time and was not universal or comprehensive. No any prophet except Muhammad claimed that he is delivering the final and universal message that is directed to all of humanity without any limit to time or place. This is a reality that cannot be denied. All of the messages which preceded Islam were sent to specific nations in specific ages in time. The roles of these messages ended with the advent of the final, universal, and comprehensive revelation.

So Dear Reader, how is it possible to follow a message that was specifically directed to another group of people in a different time than your own? By this, you are putting things in its wrong place. For example, suppose that a hurricane was expected to affect a certain place at a certain time. So the governor announced a state of emergency and ordered evacuation of that place in that period of time. Now is this order applicable and incumbent on you to follow when you are present in a different place and time? And if a specific order was issued that a special group of people wear a specific uniform for a specific period of time in a specific place, is that order obligatory for you to follow when you are at a different time and place and are from a different group of people?

Similarly, is the divine message that was conveyed by Prophet Sho’ayb to the people of Madyan in his time applicable to those living in China today? If you meet a Chinese person who tells you that they are from the followers of Prophet Shoayb, what will you say to him and what will you describe him? In simple words, you will tell him that Prophet Shoa’yb was specifically sent to the people of Madyan during a specific time during his lifetime with a specific message. So how can you who come from China, claim after all these centuries that you follow the message of Prophet Sho’ayb, which was not directed to you? Yet you abandon the message that is really directed to you as it is directed to every person at any time and place. What was intended for a particular time, place, and group of people cannot be directed to those who are not part of that time, place, and group of people. Logic says that you must embrace, follow, and accept the divine message that was sent to you, not what was sent for others before you! This is the sound judgment of the mind and logic and is a clear point for every rational and sensible person.

8) As we demonstrated before, all of the divine revelations and messages call for Tawheed (oneness of God) and the worship and obedience of the Divine Creator. So in essence, they all represent one message and their main goal is one. Therefore, do you think the accomplishment of this main goal can be reached more easily if there is unity among the monotheists, under one religion and one message or if there is more than one religion which calls for the same thing? This multiplicity and division will certainly lead to conflict among these religions.

Sure enough, this is what we observe today. And the wasting of efforts in this conflict and competition, and exhaustion of their resources which could be directed towards the propagation of oneness and invitation to the final message, if all these religions has been unified and gathered under the umbrella of the final Islamic message, which of the two scenarios is better? If all of these religions unite under one religion, namely Islam, which scenario do you think will be better for the propagation of the oneness and worship of God? Which situation do you think will please God? Many different religions that call in God's name and fight each other at the same time, or one religion and one message that unites everyone and brings all the efforts together for the sake of accomplishing the ultimate goal? Logic and common sense says that the presence of one divine religion and one message that gathers everyone is much better and useful. But multiplicity in religion could lead to an opposite effect.

As for the idea of having multiple religions at the same time, this would not only disperse the energy of the people, but would actually lead to the opposite effect! It would promote the growth of disbelief, atheism, and deviation from religions, which actually happened and continues to happen. This makes sense because when people witness division, conflict, and separation between the heavenly religions that call for the same one God, this generally makes them wonder why all these religions are divided and are in disagreement with each other, if they all call for the worship and obedience of one God. This will lead them to think that some if not all of these religions are lying. As a result, the people will abandon these religions and lean towards disbelief, polytheism, or atheism.

All this totally contradicts everything that these divine religions call for and rather, it accomplishes the opposite. Therefore, it is logical and essential that the call for One God takes the form of one final religion that will be a role model to everyone regarding faith in God and His worship alone. This is demanded by all of the religions and this is what God willed when He descended the final revelation to all of humanity and ordered everyone to follow it, including the followers of the previous religions.

With this logic, we have established the necessity of following the last religion and embracing it as well as calling others to God through this religion. The matter here is not left for the people to pick and choose which divine religion to embrace. Rather, it is controlled by the best interest of the main goal, which is invitation to worship of the one God. The matter is not a hobby or type of sport in which you choose among them which one to practice, nor it is a social or political activity which you may decide which to engage and which to avoid. The matter is totally different from all these examples, as we explained.

9) Islam is the Final Divine Message and the Seal of Religions which gathers all what the prophets called for, despite their multiplicity, different places and time of appearance. The final message acknowledged all of them and called for their love and respect. Since we established that this is truly the case, we pose the following question: What prevents the followers of these messengers from accepting and embracing the final religion and message, Islam? After all, they're not going to loose anything, but will rather gain a lot and will elevate in their faith.

So, what will a Jew loose if he accepts Islam? If he loves and believes Moses, does Islam invite him to disbelieve in Moses and curse him? No, on the contrary, the position of Prophet Moses in Islam is very high compared to his position in the eyes of the Jews themselves! That is because Islam vindicated him from many of false claims made regarding him and it raised him to an elevated position in the eyes of God. In fact, if you truly love Moses, you will find yourself loving and respecting him much more in Islam and with Islam.

Furthermore, does a Jewish person practice certain rituals in the Jewish religion which he will miss out on if he embraces Islam? Absolutely not, everything in the Jewish religion is present in Islam but in a more developed and simple form! And it is from the same God of Moses and is directed from Him. Dear Jewish believer, you will find yourself more happy and tasting more pleasure with the content, worship, and rituals of Islam and you will not miss anything at all from the religion that Prophet Moses (AS) delivered. Here, we must add that it is not our concern what some people introduced from distortions, alterations, and deviations in the Jewish religion. They are not to be included in the final religion since they are the innovations of the human beings, and are not from God.

The same case applies to the followers of Prophet Jesus (AS). If you love and sanctify Prophet Jesus, you will find yourself loving and respecting him more under Islam. In fact, it will be demanded of you but with the condition that you do not associate anyone with God in His Lordship and Divinity. Otherwise, that will be considered Shirk (polytheism). Also, you must not claim that Jesus is the son of God, because that contradicts the logical attributes of God. You must not claim that Jesus is not a normal human being because all of the prophets and messengers before and after him were normal human beings, so why would he be an exception? Also, do not claim that he was not a servant of God because slavery to the Great God is an honor for all creatures without any exception. As for love, faith, respect, and veneration, you are free to exercise all that in Islam towards the prophets and messengers and that will certainly not prevent you from embracing the new religion in any way.

So Dear Reader, tell me now: What will the followers of the preceding divine religions loose if they embrace Islam and what prevents them from accepting this new and final religion? That is of course, assuming that they don’t have a specific personal interest, motivation, or desire which they fear of losing. The devout and sincere worshipper in these divine religions will certainly not lose anything, but will rather gain a lot. Consider this simple example: A man likes to practice the sport of swimming in a specific place, while a 2nd person likes to play tennis in another playground, while a third person likes to play the sport of gymnastics in a third place that is specific to that sport only. How about if we built a large stadium or sports complex that include a spacious and attractive swimming pools, great tennis fields, and spacious place for gymnastics which contains modern and advanced tools and equipment?

Tell me, Dear Reader, what will all these three athletes loose if they abandoned their own old-fashioned playgrounds which they used to practice their favorite sport, and come together to this great and advanced sports complex that will offer them everything they love, and even more? It will not deprive them of the sport they like to play. Rather, this sports complex will enable them to practice their favorite sport more comfortably and with more enjoyment. Furthermore, it will give them the opportunity to learn about and consider other new beneficial sports that they may find interesting after all.

Therefore, it is logical and more convenient that these three athletes all go to the shared sports complex to practice their sport. Or else, why would they insist on staying in their own old-fashioned places to practice their sport? It does not make any sense and if they chose to do so, we may blame them of stupidity, ignorance, or blind fanaticism that does not provide any benefit. Quite the opposite, it may cause harm since it will deprive them of this great opportunity which they will loose nothing from. Therefore, we can conclude that it is logical and essential to follow the last and final religion and to embrace and abide by its rules, as there is no doubt or question regarding that.

From the previous items 1-8, after thorough study and contemplation, and after using our bare minds and logical reasoning, we can with all confidence and faith conclude the following truth without any doubt:

3rd Conclusion

The nature, content, and unique characteristics of the Islamic Message indicates that it is indeed the Final Revelation directed to all of humanity in every place and time, without exception. It is logically essential and incumbent on every person to embrace, accept, research, abide, and follow this religion without deviating from it. This is a logical reality that cannot be debated or refuted since it would be going against logical reasoning and sound judgment.

Dear Seeker of Truth, after thorough contemplation based on the mind and logic that is agreed upon by any sane person and after removing any personal interest, motivation, or fanaticism from ourselves…

We can bear witness with our mind and intellect, with all confidence and certainty, without being forced or pressured by anyone, and after clearly witnessing all the logical proofs and evidence and by using sound reasoning alone…both you and I can bear witness that (and now, we must perform Ghusl (ritual bath) to cleanse ourselves and to prepare ourselves for this great testimony in front of the Great Creator):

“THERE IS NO GOD BUT ALLAH, the One Great Creator who has no partner or associate, and bears no resemblance to Himself or His Absolute Attributes. He alone deserves lordship, worship, unconditional obedience, unconditional love, unconditional humility, and unconditional submission.

And we bear witness and testify that MUHAMMED IS THE SLAVE AND MESSENGER OF GOD and he is His Seal of Prophets who delivered the Last, Final, Comprehensive, and Universal Message that is directed to all of humanity in every place and time. His message is incumbent on all of us to follow and we must embrace, accept, study, and abide by it as Allah (SWT) ordered us. We must worship Him through it and make this religion our way of life such that it controls our carnal desires. We must strive to make this message the greatest word, to obey Allah (SWT), and to propagate this message to every person in any place and time with all peaceful means to the best of our ability.

From this moment on, we have become Muslims; our religion is Islam, our life revolves around Islam, our method is Islam. We will obey everything Islam tells us to do which came from Muhammad, the messenger of Islam, the Holy Quran, and the Sunnah (traditions and way of life of the Holy Prophet), the rulings, the commands, the forbidden, the directions, the non-recommended, the doubtful, the things which save you and things which lead you to destruction, the established laws, and the morals.

We accept Islam as our religion, Muhammad as our prophet and messenger, the Holy Quran as our Book and guide. And we surrender ourselves to Muhammad and His Message, and to Allah (SWT), the Lord of all Worlds. May Allah (SWT) bear witness to our testimony!”

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Dear Reader, at this point we would like to congratulate you once again for you have now become one of the Muslims who submit themselves to Allah (SWT), and have embraced the final and last religion that He (SWT) approved and accepted for you. You have adopted this religion out of conviction that is based on clear proofs and evidence which lead to deep and sincere faith that comes from your mind and heart together, without any force or pressure. Now that you have really seen the truth, you chose to be an honorable human being who seeks the truth. So you followed the truth after discovering it, regardless of the consequences that may befall you from problems, hardship, and hostility from the enemies of the truth, fanatics, enemies of God in all their shapes and wherever they are. This is indeed the highest rank in humanity!

So, Congratulations to you Dear Reader and glad tidings of Heaven which has been created for those like you who seek and love the truth and sacrifice for its sake. Glad tidings of salvation to you on the Day of Judgment! When your Lord questions you about your religion, you will answer Him that you have embraced the religion which He approved for his servants. Thus, He (SWT) will be pleased of you, and whomever Allah (SWT) is pleased with on this very tough and terrifying day will indeed have won a great victory!

So keep up the good work, Dear Reader, and continue using your mind, intellect, and guidance which your Lord provided you. Your light will increase and you'll be more close to the truth with your Holy Book the Quran, and the Sunnah (traditions) of your Prophet. Continue treading this road and when you recognize the truth, follow it no matter how many obstacles you face. Do not become arrogant, fanatic, or stubborn so long as the truth is clear to you, logically and reasonably. By this, you attain salvation in this life and in your Hereafter.

And now, the next step is to complete your faith and to perfect your religion and for Allah (SWT) to fulfill His bounty upon you and accept your Islam as a religion that is without any deficiency. Let us move on together to the 3rd case study, as we depend first and foremost on Allah (SWT), then on the guidance and instructions (Sunnah) provided to us by the Messenger of Allah (SWT), and by using our mind, logic, and sound judgment, which are among the soldiers of Allah (SWT), and they are the best and wonderful blessings of Allah (SWT). So let us rely on Allah (SWT), and let us begin in the name of Allah (SWT)…